LIVING IN FEAR WHERE??

¿Presidente Calderón? SeñorPresidente … Saludosdesde Arizona. I realize your administration is closely following the S.B. 1070 saga. But I must tell you, while I haven’t agreed with our governor as of late, I’m with her 100 percent in her disappointment of Mexico’s friend-of-the-court brief filed in support ofthe Friendly House et al lawsuit.

Among other things, your amicus brief states that if S.B. 1070 goes into effect, Mexicans will be afraid to visit Arizona for work OR for pleasure.

I don’t want anyone to live in fear, ¡pero por favor! What are you doing about those in Mexico who live in fear 24/7?? Fear of police, fear of the military, fear of the crooked politicians, fear of the daily “narco-blockades,” and fear of the drug-related violence.

Don’t you see you are causing more harm than good? Conservatives are laughing their asses off at your expense – at your administration’s hypocrisy. Don’t you know that human rights organizations from around the world are asking the U.S. not to release conditioned funds for Mexico under the Merida Initiative because of serious concerns over alleged violations of human rights in Mexico?

According to the Washington Office on Latin America, the 2009 U.S. State Department Annual Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Mexico states that under your watch, the country has seen “unlawful killings by security forces kidnappings; physical abuse … arbitrary arrests and detention … confessions coerced through torture [and] multiple reports of forced disappearances by the army and police.” Hold on, my favorite: It was verified that “army doctors or other members of the military falsified evidence to cover up abuses.”

In light of this, Mr. Presidente, your actions are only adding fuel to the fire. Even worse, you are pushing garden-variety moderates over the edge.

Not helping.

Back to the topic of your amicus brief: I think this is a serious case of “Candil de la calle, oscuridad de tu casa” syndrome.

I suggest you work a bit harder at improving the quality of life in Mexico for all its citizens, so they don’t have to flee, legally or illegally, in pursuit of a better life. Oh, and in the process, start treating the undocumented Central American immigrants currently in Mexico with more dignity and respect. And start translating official documents into indigenous languages so that everyone can partake in the democratic process … and while you are issuingmatriculas consulares, which here in the state are only good to prove Mexican citizenship and open bank accounts ($27 a pop, right?), register Mexican citizens in the U.S. to vote in the next Mexican presidential election, ’cause they have that right, too, ¿que no?

Back to the amicus brief. The day after it was filed, I read Mexico ranks as the sixth country with the most homicides at “just” 18, 900 in 2009. Then I read a Mexican politico’s accounts of alleged telephonic espionage at the hands of federal and state authorities … and then my jaw dropped yet again in reading reports about the Jornada 2010 de Prevención de la Tortura held in Mexico City last month. (I stopped reading Ripley’s Believe it or Not when I signed up for CNN Mexico’s newsletter – seriously.)

I also read about seven people murdered in Nuevo León, five more in Juárez; the assassination of a political candidate and his entourage in Tamaulipas; and the killings of 12 federal policias in Michoacán and 29 prisoners in Sinaloa, and 15 alleged henchmen killed in a police shootout in Taxco, Guerrero … and nine killed at a rehab center in Durango; and 19 people killed at another rehab center in Chihuahua.